A Sweet Dream
"I know." In truth, it wasn't necessary. Whatever else might be said about that cunning serpent, he made absolutely sure they never went hungry. Whether it was a member of the Beast Race or the Human Race, a Great Yao or a Foundation Establishment cultivator, if Muk-su said he wanted to eat it, Jekyeong would find a way to fetch it. But that was one thing, and Cheongo boasting was another; Muk-su didn't want to disappoint the triumphant bird.
"Muk-su! Muk-su! Jekyeong praised me!"
"Really?"
"Yes! Yes! He said my hypnosis has gotten better! He said the effects are much stronger than before!"
Normally, Muk-su had nothing to do other than bask in the sunlight and savor the moonlight. Though he was a Wood Yao who by nature found pleasure in leisure and boredom, even he needed some entertainment from time to time. Thus, he would listen to various stories from Hyeongu, other clever Water Beasts, and Jekyeong whenever the serpent dropped by. It was during those times that he had learned of Cheongo's innate divine ability.
He had never imagined that this talkative crow possessed such a mysterious power. He had found it intriguing, but that was the extent of it. Whether other Wood Yao were the same he did not know, but Muk-su rarely paid much attention to others. This, too, was simply his nature.
"Muk-su! Do you want to try it too?"
"Try what?"
"A dream! I'll let you have a wonderful dream!"
"A dream..."
Muk-su dazed for a moment. A dream? Of course, Muk-su knew what a dream was, yet in a way, he did not. He had heard of them, but he had never experienced one. Even in his oldest memories, Muk-su was always half-awake whenever he slept. Because of this, he had never once dreamed, and until Jekyeong and Cheongo explained it to him later, he hadn't even known such a thing existed.
"Can I even dream? I'm not sure."
"Then we can just try it and see!"
"...Alright. You're right."
Agreeing with Cheongo's words, Muk-su met the bird's eyes. Having returned to its original form, the crow's eyes were far blacker than when it was anthropomorphized.
"Relax... Feel good... A fun dream... A happy dream..."
As Muk-su stared blankly into those eyes, he suddenly felt everything around him change. Rolling his eyes, he saw countless, unimaginably tiny things—so small he could barely make them out. Only after focusing his gaze intently for a long time did he realize that every single one of them was a living soul.
Have I grown larger, or have they shrunk? The answer became clear when a gentle sweep of one of his branches parted the sea of clouds.
Rumble! With a slight shift of his deeply embedded roots, the earth split open and mountains collapsed. The spiritual energy of the earth surged up through his roots, reaching his main body. After thoroughly saturating him, this spiritual energy mingled with the spiritual energy of the heavens, and after a long while, flowed back down through his body and roots, returning to the earth.
It was the great cycle of heaven and earth's spiritual energy, and Muk-su himself was its core. He felt as though he had become the pillar of the world—a pillar supporting both heaven and earth, sustaining the cosmic harmony of the cycle.
Is this a dream? It was absurd, yet it felt incredibly real. At the very least, Muk-su could not distinguish between the dream and reality. If he hadn't remembered staring into Cheongo's eyes just moments ago, he might have mistaken this for actual reality.
Fun... Joy? Muk-su recalled the words Cheongo had been muttering. So, was this a fun and joyful dream? Not particularly. However, if asked if it was good, he had no choice but to say yes. Standing as a colossal tree supporting the heavens, an immense emotion naturally surged from the depths of his heart. It was a sense of relief. An absolute security. An emotion born from the certainty that no one could harm him, and no one could shatter his tranquility.
Well... this is nice. Was it joyful? He didn't know. Was it fun? He didn't know that either. But it was good, so Muk-su was thoroughly satisfied.
"Mmm." Muk-su fully savored the feeling of being the sole world-tree. He stood still, governing the cycle of heaven and earth, occasionally waving his branches to sweep away the clouds, and looking down upon the minuscule living souls on the ground. Time flowed on and on. Then, at some point, just as he had slipped into it, he woke from the dream without even realizing it.
"..." Muk-su slowly blinked his eyes, struggling to adapt to this other reality. Falling from a world-tree that looked down upon the entire cosmos back to a mere Wood Yao barely rooted on a single island made adaptation difficult.
"How was it? How was it?" Only after regaining his senses did Muk-su notice Cheongo staring at him with eyes full of anticipation.
"...It was good."
"I knew it! I'll do it for you again next time! But Jekyeong said I shouldn't do it too often. He said if you fall too deep into dreams, your mind gets clouded."
"Yes. That fellow is right."
Muk-su finally understood what a divine ability was, and why it was called as such. That dream, which was indistinguishable from reality, was a sweet experience that would be hard to escape once tasted. The serpent's words were correct. This dream was too sweet; if one indulged in it too much, they would soon forget what sweetness even meant.
"...Still, it's nice."
"Huh? What is?"
"The weather."
"The weather?"
The day was still bright, and the sunlight was still warm. Though the spiritual energy flowing in through his roots was, compared to that of the dream, a difference greater than that between Yangseo Lake and a single stagnant raindrop, it was still sufficiently moist.
"It's nothing." Brushing it off for Cheongo, who tilted its head in confusion, Muk-su spread his branches wide as if to embrace the sky. Shaking off his lingering regret with a sense of refreshment, he accepted the vast sky and his own speck-like self.
It's not bad. What did it matter if he didn't support heaven and earth? Whether a world-tree or a sapling, a tree simply takes root and stands. A great tree faces great winds, and a small tree faces small winds. Why rejoice in being large, or despair in being small?
"Huh?" Cheongo, standing right beside him, felt the change even before Muk-su did. While Muk-su kept his eyes closed in tranquility, Cheongo could vividly feel a dense spiritual energy overflowing from Muk-su's entire body. It looked like water suddenly spilling over the brim of a cup, yet strangely, there was no sense of danger at all.
Plop! Plip! The leaves that had been brimming with vitality just a moment ago rapidly withered and fell to the ground. In their place, new leaves—larger and far more vibrant—began to sprout.
Creak! Rumble! His main body was no different. Muk-su, who had already boasted a significant presence even while resting on Bigu's shell, grew so massive that he now easily occupied more than half of the giant turtle's back. This remarkable growth occurred in an instant, yet unfolded with complete naturalness. By the time the withered leaves had finished falling, Muk-su had already become vastly larger.
"Whoa..." Cheongo watched the entire process with wide eyes. At the same time, Jekyeong, who was drifting like a cloud in the skies above the Seongya Archipelago to clear his mind, felt an abnormal fluctuation in spiritual energy and cast his gaze downward.
"Hmm?" Sensing the spiritual energy swirling around Muk-su and the steady rise of his aura, Jekyeong grasped the situation instantly. He finally broke through.
Jekyeong shifted his gaze to Cheongo, who was standing foolishly beside Muk-su. I wonder if that lazy crow will finally get motivated after seeing this.
Cheongo had indeed changed. Witnessing Muk-su's breakthrough right before its eyes seemed to have provided a significant shock, altering both its body and mind compared to before. Quite clearly.
"Belch!"
The plump, fat crow lay flat on its back and let out a loud burp. Jekyeong watched this carefree sight for a moment before slowly closing his eyes. He had expected too much from this fellow. Or perhaps he had vastly underestimated its laziness.
Unable to bear it, he opened his eyes again to look, only to lock eyes with the bird. The crow's reaction was utterly shameless, as if asking, What are you looking at?
"Ah, ah. Cultivation really isn't easy." Cheongo patted its bulging belly with the tip of its wing and sighed. Hearing this, Jekyeong's face turned dark, but since his scales were already black and Cheongo wasn't even looking at him, the bird didn't notice his change in expression at all.
Furthermore, Cheongo hadn't said this to annoy Jekyeong. The bird truly believed it. After all, in its mind, cultivation was synonymous with eating.
Hyeongu, Bigu, and even Muk-su just now—hadn't they all raised their cultivation bases by eating lots of good things? Jekyeong might be an exceptional case, but Cheongo knew that in the past, Jekyeong had devoured humans and beasts alike without discrimination, just like any ordinary member of the Beast Race. Though he had changed slightly after coming to Yangseo Lake and being called the Dragon Lord, didn't he still gorge himself on piles of alchemical pills instead of meat?
Cheongo's stomach felt heavy. Having to mindlessly inhale food that should have been slowly and thoroughly savored had cut the joy of eating down to a fraction of what it should be. To make matters worse, despite putting in so much effort, it still hadn't broken through, doubling its sorrow.
"Jekyeong! Jekyeong! Do you have anything good to eat?"
"..."
Jekyeong did not answer. Although the bird's continuous nonsense was quite irritating, he decided to view it as a good opportunity. If he could maintain his meditation while ignoring this fellow's babble, his mental fortitude would surely take a great leap forward.
Actually, it's not entirely absurd. Cheongo's idea of cultivating through eating was extremely simple, but it perfectly aligned with the path of blood food followed by the Beast Race. In fact, Cheongo's aura, though faint, was steadily rising. Once the bird finished digesting everything, a meaningful increase in its cultivation base would surely follow.